Stephen Curry was on fire and the Washington Wizards got burned. The league top gun Curry dropped in 51 points and matched a career high with 11 three-pointers on Wednesday, shooting the Golden State Warriors to their eighth straight victory, 134-121 over the hosting Wizards.
“He couldn’t miss,” said Wizards John Wall, whose season-high 41 points did not help avoid defeat. “You keep defending the best way you can. We challenged some shots. He didn’t have too many open looks. He just made them.”
Curry put on a dazzling shooting display, hitting 19-of-28 from the field and 11-of-16 from behind the three-point arc for his fourth career game of 50 or more points.  “You make your first couple shots and you get confidence,” Curry said. “You find a rhythm and find the rim. I was getting to my spots and things were flowing.”  
The reigning league MVP came within one triple of tying the NBA single record for three-pointers. “I knew I was in reach and kind of searching but not forcing,” he explained. “You can’t mess around with the basketball gods chasing the record when the game doesn’t call for it.”
Klay Thompson hit six triples en route to 24 points for the defending NBA champions (45-4), while fellow All-Star Draymond Green picked up his league-best 10th triple-double of the season, with 12 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds.
Curry fired in 25 points in the opening quarter, hitting 9-of-10 field goals and seven 3-pointers. The All-Star guard had 36 by halftime on 13-for-14 shooting and the Warriors had a 74-60 halftime cushion. “Steph had an amazing first quarter and an amazing overall game too,” Thompson said. “He’s big reason why we won tonight.” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said: “Steph was scintillating coming out of the gate. He was brilliant.”
The Wizards came out with more energy and cut a 17-point deficit to 86-84 late in the third quarter. But Curry nailed two more triples and the Warriors carried a 102-91 lead into the final frame before coasting home.

San Antonio Spurs 110, New Orleans Pelicans 97
LaMarcus Aldridge scored a season-high 36 points, Kawhi Leonard had 26, and the Spurs (41-8) improved to 27-0 at home this season after topping the Pelicans. Anthony Davis led New Orleans with 28 points and 10 rebounds.

Charlotte Hornets 106, Cleveland Cavaliers 97
Jeremy Lin scored 24 points and the Hornets (24-25) used a dominant 33-17 third quarter to snap the Cavs’ five-game winning streak. Kyrie Irving topped the Cavs (35-13) with 26 points and LeBron James added 23.

Atlanta Hawks 124, Philadelphia 76ers 86
Mike Scott and Tim Hardaway Jr led eight players in double figures with 13 points apiece, and the visiting Hawks (29-22) spanked the league-worst Sixers (7-42) with their most lopsided win since 1994.

Boston Celtics 102, Detroit Pistons 95
Isaiah Thomas had 17 points, Avery Bradley added 15, and the Celtics (29-22) trimmed the visiting Pistons for their seventh win in the last eight outings.
Reggie Jackson scored 17 points for Detroit (25-24) while Andre Drummond had 16 and 13 rebounds.

Oklahoma City Thunder 117, Orlando Magic 114
Kevin Durant drained the game-winning triple in the final second to cap a 37-point effort, and the Thunder (38-13) edged the visiting Magic for a fifth straight win. Russell Westbrook had his eighth triple-double of the season for Oklahoma City, with 24 points, a career-high 19 rebounds and 14 assists. Victor Oladipo scored 37 points to pace the Magic (21-27), losers in 14 of their last 16 decisions.

Miami Heat 93, Dallas Mavercks 90
Chris Bosh scored 20 points, Dwyane Wade had 16 of his 18 in the second half, and the visiting Heat (28-22) handled the Mavericks (28-24) for the ninth time in the last 10 meetings despite a game-high 28 by Germany’s Dirk Nowitki.

Utah Jazz 85, Denver Nuggets 81
Derrick Favors and Gordon Hayward scored 16 points apiece, and the Jazz (23-25) ran their winning streak to a season-high five after slipping past the visiting Nuggets (19-31), led by Danilo Gallinari’s 24.

Indiana Pacers 114, Brooklyn Nets 100
CJ Miles tossed in 27 points, Paul George scored 17, and the visiting Pacers (26-23) sent the Nets to their fifth straight loss.
Brook Lopez paced Brooklyn (12-38) with 21 points.

Chicago Bulls 107, Sacramento Kings 102
E’Twaun Moore had a career-high 24 points, Derrick Rose added 21, as Bulls (27-21) edged the Kings for their first win in Sacramento since December 2011. DeMarcus Cousins led Sacramento (21-28) with 30 points and 11 rebounds.

Minnesota Timberwolves 108, LA Clippers 102
Andrew Wiggins scored 31 points, Karl-Anthony Towns had 17, as the T-Wolves (15-36) surprised the Clippers to stop a 12-game road slide and five straight losses overall. Chris Paul scored 22 points and Jamal Crawford had 21 off the bench for the Clippers (32-17), who had their four-game success snapped overall.